2000
#2,062
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 16,097
First available Census row
Per 100,000 5.97
Uncommon Last name
Laughlin
Anglicized form of Irish Ó Lochlainn, meaning "descendant of Lochlann," a Gaelic name derived from "fjord land," referring to Scandinavia.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 17,438 Americans carry the last name Laughlin. That puts it at #2,332 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 5.09 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 19,656 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Laughlin surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Laughlin with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
17K
1 in 19,656
Census rank
#2,332
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
5.1
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
15K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 15,207 bearers of the surname Laughlin in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 5.09 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 2332nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Laughlin, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.6%) and Hispanic (3.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Laughlin
The surname Laughlin originated in Scotland during the 12th century. It is derived from the Gaelic words "lough" meaning lake and "linn" meaning pool or stream, referring to someone who lived near a lake or pool.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, which lists those who swore allegiance to King Edward I of England after his conquest of Scotland. The name is spelled "Lochlyn" in this document.
Over time, the spelling evolved to Laughlin, Loughlin, Laughlan, and other variations. The name was particularly common in the Scottish Highlands, especially in the areas around Inverness and Argyll.
In the 16th century, there are records of a John Laughlin who was a landowner in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Another notable figure was Robert Laughlin, a Scottish poet born in 1639 who wrote works in both English and Scots.
The name also spread to Ireland, where it is often rendered as Loughlin or Lochlann. One of the earliest recorded Irish individuals with this name was Domnall Ua Lochlainn, a King of Ailech who ruled in the 12th century.
As the name spread across the British Isles, it also made its way to the Americas with Scottish and Irish immigrants. Some notable bearers of the Laughlin name in North America include:
1. John Laughlin (1766-1838), an American lawyer and politician from Pennsylvania.
2. Samuel Huston Laughlin (1793-1843), an American lawyer and judge from Tennessee.
3. James Laurence Laughlin (1850-1933), an American economist and educator who served as the president of Cornell University.
4. Robert Laughlin (born 1950), an American physicist and Nobel laureate known for his work on the quantum Hall effect.
5. Kathleen Laughlin (born 1964), an American actress and writer known for her work on television shows like "The Guardian" and "V.I.P."
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Laughlin
Among Census respondents with the surname Laughlin, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.6%) and Hispanic (3.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Laughlin bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Laughlin surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.9% · 13,520
- Two or more races3.6% · 554
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 548
- Black or African American2.0% · 311
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 161
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 113
Timeline
Historical Census data for Laughlin
Laughlin appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#2,232
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 16,323
+226 bearers (+1.4%)
Per 100,000 5.53
Rank movement Down 170 places
2020
#2,332
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 15,207
-1,116 bearers (-6.8%)
Per 100,000 5.09
Rank movement Down 100 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #2,062 | 16,097 | 5.97 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #2,232 | 16,323 | 5.53 | +226 bearers (+1.4%) | Down 170 places |
| 2020 | #2,332 | 15,207 | 5.09 | -1,116 bearers (-6.8%) | Down 100 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Laughlin surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #2,232 | #2,332 | -4.5% |
| Count | 16,323 | 15,207 | -6.8% |
| Per 100K | 5.53 | 5.09 | -8.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Laughlin bearers went from 16,323 to 15,207 (-6.8% change). The surname moved down 100 positions in the national ranking, going from #2,232 to #2,332.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Laughlin
FAQ
Laughlin surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Laughlin?
Name Census estimates that about 17,438 living Americans carry the surname Laughlin. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 19,656 residents.
How common is Laughlin?
Laughlin ranks #2,332 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 5.09 per 100,000 residents, which is about 5 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 15,207 people with the surname Laughlin. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (17,438), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 5.09 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 5.09 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 5 of them to have the surname Laughlin.
Has Laughlin become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Laughlin went from 16,323 recorded bearers to 15,207. That is a decrease of 1,116 (-6.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #2,232 to #2,332.
What does the Census say about the background of Laughlin?
Among Census respondents with the surname Laughlin, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.6%) and Hispanic (3.6%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Laughlin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.9% (13,520 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Laughlin appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (88.9%), Two or More Races (3.6%), Hispanic (3.6%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Laughlin (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Laughlin mean?
Anglicized form of Irish Ó Lochlainn, meaning "descendant of Lochlann," a Gaelic name derived from "fjord land," referring to Scandinavia. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Laughlin (5.09 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the surname Laughlin?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.